Combination sheeter and wrapper for package wrapping machines



Oct. 6, 1953 M H coRLEY ETAL 2,654,195

COMBINTIN SHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March'7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. coRLEY ETAL 2,654,196

COMBINATION SHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE wRAPPrNC MACHINES 18Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March '7, 1949 Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. coRLl-:Y x-:rAL2,654,196

6 COMBINATION SHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPING MACHINES FiledMarch 7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet 3 OPERA TOR'5` STA TION Oct. 6, 1953 M. H.CORLEY ET AL COMBINATION SHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPINGMACHINES Filed March 7, 1949 Il' I" ff w /5 .du /jy 18 Sheets-Sheet 4JNVENToRs. lan; H C70/ en AAz//z' @n BY i ,www

Oct. 6, 1953 M Filed March 7, 1949 Qs @C H. CORLEY ET AL COMBINATIONSHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPING MACHINES Har -fmrp OPER/noms 5TA T/o/v 18 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS.

Mar/f H Caf@ Oct 6, 1953 M. H. coRLEY r-:TAL 2,654,196

COMBINATION SHEETER AND wRAPPER NOR PACKAGE wRAPPINC MACHINES v FiledMarch '7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTO S. ff @0f/5y @f1 A Ar l' S012BY 50552 flag/ier Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. coRLEY ETAL 2,654,196

COMBINATION SHEETER ANO wRAPPER FOR PACKAGE wRAPPINC MACHINES FiledMarch 7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet 7 *L 'WWA Och 6, 1953 M. H. CORLEY Em2,654,196

COMBINATION SHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPING MACHINES FiledMarch 7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet 8 0t.6,1953 M H CORLEY mi 2,654,196

COMBINTIN SHEETER AND wRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March7, 1949 '18 Sheets-Sheet 9 Oct. 6, 1953 M H CORLEY ETAL 2,654,196

COMBINATIN SHE TER AND wRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet lO Z4 Sic/e @nel f/ap s/de end flap L a//ena/E70 s 76/a/@d Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. coRLEY E1' AL 2,654,196

COMBINATION smIETER AND wRAPPER FOR PACKAGE wRAPPING MACHINES FiledMarch 7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet 11 6 U0 /3 :gg Z5 204 f 5,

M. H. CORLEY l' AL COMBINATION SHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPINGMACHINES Oct. 6, 1953 18 sheets-sheet 12 Filed March 7, 1949 INVENTO rIll/1111,

OCL 5, 1953 M. H. CORLEY ETAL 2,654,196

COMBINATION SHIIEIER AND wRAPPER FCR PACKAGE WNAPPINC MACHINES FiledMarch 7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet l5 A; A unlunmu I Oct. 6, 1953 M H CORLEYETAL 2,654,196

COMBINATIN SHEETER AND wRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March7, 1949 18 sheets-sheet- 14 Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. coRLEY ET Al. 2,654,196

COMBINATION SHEETER AND wRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WNAPPING MACHINES FiledMarch 7, 1949 18 Sheets-sheet l5 A ya@ T' I, I 1 I :l I l f 7 (Eg .9

Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. coRLr-:Y ETAL 2,654,195

COMBINATION SHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE wRAPPINC MACHINES FiledMarch 7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet 16 INVENToRs.

Mar/20024;@ 236/2 A/w' $012 Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. coRLEY l:a1-Al.

coMBlNATIoN SHEETER AND wRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WRAPPING MACHINES 18sheets-sheet 17 Filed March 7, 1949 www M A@ m www, .mmm N a uw? @AKAMNAN nm mwN E @u |I||I l| IIII lllldl?, IIIMPGLHHHHIIIIIIIIII'HIIIIIIA#Unh|mm|lll|dll|l|| |||||HH mmm dabmj A Amm www A A EAA @95g AA, www. .In----:-..h-}---:. I A\ y s da M l @QN f| @uw Kill/I -H QQNN @Y ,NAVA oNAQN l if MAN @QN -|.I 1.., mwN Mkwlh Oct. 6, 1953 M. H. coRLEY ErAL2,654,196

COMBINATION SHEETER ANO wRAPPER FOR PACKAGE wRAPPINC MACHINES FiledMarch 7, 1949 18 Sheets-Sheet 18 Patented Oct. 6, 1953 COMBINATIONSHEETER AND WRAPPER FOR PACKAGE WBAPPING MACHINES Mark H. Corley, RiverForest, Bengt A. Arvidson,

Villa Park, and Ralph F. assignors to Miller Wra chine Co., Chicago,Ill., a

Barber, Elmhurst, Ill., Prinz & Sealing Macorporatlon of IllinoisApplication March 7, 1949, serial Nn. 79,956

(ci. a45) 31 claims. l

This invention relates to packaging machinery and pertains moreespecially to wrapping and sealing machines of the semi-automatic type,and to sheeters designed for use with machines of that character, aswell as separately.

The species of wrapping and/sealing machines with which this applicationis more particularly concerned is one extensively employed in thewrapping of articles such as bread and other bakery products-being Wellsuited to\such purpose because of its quick and easy adaptability to thewrapping and sealing of packages of di-A verse sizes and proportions.But the utility of the present machine is not in any sense `limited orlargely confined to the bakery trade. On the contrary, certain of themajor features of this invention are more concerned with the packagingof products such as butter, ice cream and the like,

which cannot, without injury, be subjected to prolonged hightemperatures, while still other features are concerned with specialwrapping problems having to do, for example, with articles which areexceptionally thin, or extraordinarily bulgy, or of unusually lightWeightcharacteristics rarely encountered in baked goods normallypackaged by machines of the kind here dealt with.

A sheeter, as that term is employed herein. is a piece of equipmentwhich may be a separate and distinct entity or, alternatively, anintegral part of the wrapping and sealing machine; the function of thesheeter is to cut wrapping material into pieces of identical size, eachsuitable for wrapping a particular article or unit group of articles,and operative to deliver the cut sheets, one at a time, to a pointwithin easy reach of the operator, or to a predetermined position atwhich a step in the wrapping operation is to be performed. Suchequipment can be and sometimes is utilized independently of a wrappingmachine; but ordinarily it is notso employed; and in the typicalembodiments of the invention herein described the sheeters are, in eachinstance, part and parcel of the wrapping machines themselves.

The machines hereinafter described are classifled as semi-automaticbecause a part of the wrapping operation is performed by the operator,

manually. This consists in placing an articletome-wrapped, or aprescribed quantity of material, as the case may be, on a sheet ofwrapping material of appropriate size, folding the sheet around thearticle or material in the manner of a band, and then manually invertingthe banded article and placing the same on the wrapping machine inposition to be acted upon thereby. 'I'he above-described manualoperation is known and referred to herein as the "banding operation";and an article with a dsheet of wrapping material banded therearound isreferred to as a "banded article.

But the latter term ceases to be discriminative or apposite when thesucceeding end-folding operations have been performed on the wrapper,and is not employed herein with reference to a package which hasprogressed beyond the initial banded stage.

The wrapping material most commonly used is moistureproof cellophane.Such a material is advantageous because superimposedlayers can quicklybe bonded together through mere application of heat. This makes it easyto hermetically seal all wrapper overlaps, thusrenderingthe packagesmoisture-tight; and the machines herein described are equipped toperformthe heat-sealing operations, in addition to the folding operations atthetwo ends of each package. Moistureproof cellophane, however, is notthe only wrapping material suitable for use with wrapping machines ofthe kind here dealt with; and atl least one of the features of thesubject invention pertains especially to a problem having to doexclusively with the use of non-heat-sealing wrapping material.

One object of the invention is two-fold in nature, being (1) tofacilitate placement ofthe banded articles on the track of the wrappingmachine, and (2) to prevent inadvertent displacement of the pushercarriages from their initial or "at rest positions. The pusher carriagesare propelled by a pusher bar and, prior to this invention, have beenequipped with so- `called hooks extending upwardly therefrom anddesigned to be engaged by the pusher bar for the purpose of mechanicallycoupling the carriages to the pusher bar. The upwardly projecting hooksor corresponding elements have proved to be obstacles which considerablyimpede the'I operator in placement of the banded articles on the trackof the wrapping machine, and, what is perhaps an even greater detriment,these hooks are wholly detached from the pusher bar when the machine isat rest, so that it is possible for the pusher carriages to beinadvertently displaced 'from their normal at rest positions, therebygiving rise to an ever-present liability of damage being done topackages in process. We have overcome the above-indicated deficienciesthrough the provision of a new kind of linkage coupling between thepusher bar and each pusher carriage.`

as will be set forth at length in the detailed description hereinafter.

Another object of this invention is *to render practicable the wrappingand sealing in moisture-proof cellophane or the like of products such asbutter and ice cream on a wrapping and sealing machine which is designedprimarily for packaging products which are not susceptible of iniury asa consequence of being subjected to heat-sealing temperatures forrelatively prolonged periods. When the product to be packaged is notespecially heat-sensitive, it is preferable to utilize a moderatesealing temperature and allow the packages to remain in contact with thehot plates for a somewhat extended period; but that cannot be done withheat-sensitive products such, for example, as butter and ice creambecause the heat would penetrate: into the product with obviouslydisastrous consequences. But it has been found that if acellophane-wrapped package is subjected to a substantially highertemperature for a much shorter period, the sealing can be effectedsatisfactorily without damage to the product, because there is notsufllcient time for the heat to penetrate deeply. We have, accordinglydevised a so-called push-through mechanism, in the form of a modifiedpusher carriage, capable of being substituted in place of the moreconventional pusher carriages and effective to move each package fromthe loading position to the far side of the heat-sealing zone at asingle stroke of the pusher bar-all of which is accomplished without thenecessity of altering the machine in any other respect and atcomparatively little cost.

Yet another object is to provide an improved and simpliedunderlapping-wing-flap actuating mechanism, the features of which canbest be presented in conjunction with the subsequent detaileddescription.

A further object is to provide effective means for applying solvent tothe tip portions of the top end flaps of the wrappers when such tipportions are to be underlapped-which is to say, folded under and intocontact with the bottom surface of the wrapper; and more especially sowhen the sheet wrapping material is cellophane or the like of thenon-heat-sealing variety. An application of appropriate solvent, such asacetone, renders the said tip portions momentarily agglutinant and thuscapable of instantly adhering to the said bottom contacting surface,thereby firmly securing the wrapper notwithstanding its want of theheat-sealing properties which characterize moisture-proof cellophane. Wehave been able successfully to achieve the instant object through anovel arrangement involving the use of solvent applicators (eachincluding a solvent reservoir) comprising wicks carried by therespective up-folding lingers and movable vertically therewith. As thetop-folding units descend and engage the top end ilaps, they press thesame downwardly against the solventsaturated applicators; butimmediately following contact, the up-folding fingers start descending,together with the solvent applicators, so that the latter are moveddownwardly to make way for the top-folding `and underlapping operations,while at the same time remaining in contact with the said tip portions,thereby ensuring a good and suiilcient application of solventimmediately before the tip portions are pressed into contact with theunder surface of the wrapper, thus limiting to a virtual minimum theinterval during which solvent evaporation can occur.

Another object pertains to the provision of means adapted to facilitatethe Wrapping of articles which are quite thin, or which consist of bulgymaterial lacking propensity to lie flat, and other items having solittle weight as to be incapable of counteracting the slight forceinvolved in folding the end flaps of the wrapper; and to that end wehavedevised' what we call hold-down mechanisms which automatically move intoplace and bear down slightly on the end margins of each banded article,after the same has been placed on the track of the wrapping machine, andwhich are effective, both to hold the banded articles down on the trackand to flatten the end portions of buigy articles so as to enable a neatend folding job to be performed by the machine. Two species of packageholddowns within the purview of this seventh object are shown anddescribed, which, in both instances, -are characterized in that theyautomatically move laterally and oppositely away from the track whilethe pusher carriages are return- 'ing to their starting positions, sothat they are completely out of the way and incapable of 'interferingwith manual placement of banded articles on the wrapping machine track.

Yet another object of'the invention has to do more especially with thewrapping of thin packages. The yieldability of the wrapping material issuch that when a package is quite thin, satisfactory side foldsgenerally cannot be made with the ordinarly folding means, due to upwarddeflection of the top end flaps of the wrapper and consequent distortionof the narrow side end naps. We have found that by equipping the frontand rear folding ngers with auxiliary laterally extending ears arrangedto move, with said fingers. into overlying relation to the side portionsof the top end flaps, the latter can successfully be restrained againstupward deection, thereby avoiding distortion of the narrow side end aps.This results in a neat wrapping job such as we have not previously beenable to accomplish mechanically with thin packages. The same featurealso is successfully useable with other than thin packages andfrequently results in a more clean-cut fold than would otherwise beachieved, even on thicker packages where its use is in no sensemandatory.

A further object has to do with the problem of moving packages into andthen out of the heat-sealing zone, following a brief interval ofexposure to the sealing temperature, but, unlike the fourth-statedobject, is not primarily concerned with high heat-sensitive productslike butter and ice cream, which cannot be permitted to remain incontact with the hot plates more than an instant. There are otherproducts, such as chocolate, for example, which are not so highlysusceptible to injury by heat as the aforemen-I tioned ones and whichcan, accordingly, be allowed to remain in contact with the hot platessomewhat longer, but which nevertheless would be 'damaged if not removedfollowing a rather short exposure period; and any package, regardless ofcontents, would be damaged if allowed to remain in contact with the hotplates for a period of extended duration, as when the operator may taketime out or be preoccupied with some other duty and forget to remove apackage from the heat-sealing zone. In the accomplishment of thisobject, we have devised what is re- Ierred to herein as an automaticpull-through mechanism, which may be attached to a conventional orstandard wrapping machine of the type here dealt with and whichfunctions to withdraw the packages from the heat-sealing zone follow-

